Zawahiri faces hurdles as bin Laden successor

The Washington Post, 17 June 2011

Publié le :
17 juin 2011

Joby Warrick and Mary Beth Sheridan

"Huthaifa Azzam was a young man living in Osama bin Laden's house in the 1980s when he met a cantankerous Egyptian with a gift for rubbing people the wrong way. Ayman al-Zawahiri was then well on his way to terrorist superstardom, but he struck Azzam as mostly a jerk.

"He was arrogant, angry and extreme in his ideas, said Azzam, 40, son of a radical Palestinian ideologue who had become bin Laden's mentor. He fought with everyone, even those who agreed with him.

"On Thursday, Zawahiri was declared al-Qaeda's new leader, formalizing an ascension that has been underway since bin Laden's death last month. But while expected, his promotion was widely viewed as a blow to the jihadist movement. U.S. intelligence officials, terrorism experts and even the Egyptian's former cohorts say a Zawahiri-led al-Qaeda will be far more discordant, dysfunctional and perhaps disloyal than it was under bin Laden."